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HOFU, Japan — Mazda, the longtime also-ran of Japanese automakers, says it came up with
innovations in nearly every step of auto manufacturing for a super-efficient assembly line that
rolls off vehicles at a stunning rate of one every 54 seconds.

The revamped Hofu plant in Yamaguchi Prefecture in southwestern Japan underlines how Mazda Motor
Corp. has defied skeptics who predicted the automaker’s demise after Ford Motor Co. ended a long
partnership.

Contrary to expectations, Mazda was not bought by a Chinese competitor. Nor did it collapse
under the burden of a soaring yen that made Japanese cars more expensive abroad.

Mazda is still riding on its reputation for producing cool gas-sipping models such as the Miata
roadster without a single gas-electric hybrid in its lineup. The Hofu plant can barely keep up with
demand. Its pace betters that of Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s top automaker, which can roll out
a vehicle at paces varying from 57 seconds to 115 seconds.

The key to what Mazda calls its innovation in
monozukuri, or “making things,” was using a common platform, the main structure on which a
car is built, and common parts. Platform-sharing is a standard profit-boosting device in the auto
industry but is even more crucial for a smaller player such as Mazda, allowing it to create several
distinct models from what in basic ways is the same car. After its partnership with Ford ended
three years ago, Mazda needed a new approach.

Mazda says it took the process a step further and unified platforms and parts at the design and
development stage. It believes it has elevated the standard for an assembly line that can produce
multiple-size vehicles to a new level of leanness and efficiency.

Mazda officials said it will introduce all the innovations it came up with for the Hofu plant
they call “the mother plant” at its new plant in Mexico, set to go into production next year.

The Hofu plant, opened in 1981, rolled out its 10 millionth car, a Mazda6 sedan, last week.

“We see this as one step toward further growth,” said President Masamichi Kogai at a plant
celebration.

The plant produced 350,000 vehicles last year, down from its peak of more than 500,000 in 2007,
but that’s recovering this year to about 400,000.